MORPHOSIS DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

If buildings really do reflect society's values, we can applaud the new Diamond Ranch High School in Diamond Bar, California. Here is a place where social conscience coexists comfortably with creativity and imagination. These qualities are all permanently inscribed in the landscape of the campus and its form.

COSMIC TRIP: THE ROSE CENTER FOR EARTH AND SPACE

On an island crammed with so many buildings that one more isn't likely to make a difference one way or the other, the new Rose Center for Earth and Space has already made its mark. Designed by Polshek Partnership Architects, this latest addition to New York's American Museum of Natural History has created a level of excitement in a city where architectural pundits (who wear their weary cynicism proudly) have anointed it the most significant piece of architecture in, well...a pretty long time.

HISTORIC LIBRARY REOPENS IN SAVANNAH

The newest find in this charming Southern city is one of its oldest buildings. On April 9, the Bull Street Main Library in Savannah, Georgia's Victorian district reopened after renovation and expansion by the New York firm of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (HHPA) and the Savannah firm of Cogdell & Mendrala Architects.

SAITAMA SUPER ARENA: THREE BUILDINGS IN ONE

Depending on when you go there, the new sports and cultural facility for the Saitama Prefecture, Japan, is a 30,000-seat soccer stadium, a 20,000-seat basketball arena, or a 5,000-seat concert hall. The technology that makes these transformations possible is a unique system for moving a very large block of 9,200 seats, with related walls, floors, and spectator amenities. The block is 135 feet (41.5 meters) high and weighs 15,000 tons. In only 20 minutes it can move the 230 feet (70 meters) between the arena and stadium configurations.